A few questions about treatment, diet, and moving forward.

[Matrix]

Hi everyone.

This is my first post here so i'll try to be brief but as descriptive as possible.

I'm 40 years old and about a month ago i started having stomach/gi pains and was having trouble eating and drinking fluids. I was not on any antibiotics and based on all my blood tests i'm in excellent health.

I went to the er and then my gp doctor. After 9 blood tests and an h. pylori test which all came back Negative they asked for a pcr test.

About a week ago i had a pcr panel test positive for C. Difficile toxin A/B Nucleic Acid.

At that point the GP doctor prescribed me with Vanco 125mg's for 10 days which i'm currently on the 4th day.

My previous pains are gone and my "movements" alternate between normal and the typical c. diff smelly mushy stuff. I apologize if that was too descriptive.

I'm also taking a probiotic (culturelle) and following a bland diet that incorporates activia yogurt and other fermented foods. (questions to follow about that)

With that said, here are a few questions i have if anyone would be kind enough to chime in.

1. Is there any sort of possibility that after the vanco treatment i'll be cured of this or is it likely that this is going to relapse?
2. In regards to diet information on the internet is very mixed. Is plain pasta okay. Is there a guide or information that can give me a better idea on what i should/shouldn't be eating? This seems to be the most difficult problem at the moment as i'm trying to adjust my diet but there's so much counter informative information out there.
3. In regards to limiting sugar, could someone go into more detail about what kind of sugars? I see fruits being okay but fruits of course have sugar in them. I see watered down fruit juice as being acceptable and then other sites suggest against it? Is limit sugar meaning added sugar rather than natural sugar? I've read manuka honey can help and then on other sites say to stay clear of honey altogether?
4. After the treatment is over, what is the next step? What should i continue to do and who should i contact further in the medical field.

I do want to heal and do things to the best of my abilities and greatly appreciate and thank anyone who can share their knowledge.

[beth22]

Everyone is different as to what foods they tolerate and which they don't. At first I could eat yogurt, but not Activia. It gave me looser stools and a lot of gas. After a time, I could not longer tolerate dairy products. Probiotics also agree with some and not others. For some they cause more GI symptoms. I had to try several before I found one that agreed with me, and then only in small amounts. Pasta, rice, potatoes were all okay with me. I could eat lean meats and even red meat. Fruit was difficult, not because of the sugar, but most likely the fiber. Raw vegetables were also not good for me. Cooked were okay. I would introduce foods gradually and don't eat a big portion of a new food right away. Most people are cured after treatment. The ones that are not are in the minority. That is not to say that you might not have some PI-IBS, but for most the c difficile does not return. By sugar I assumed sweets like candy, baked goods, etc. You will have to see for yourself. I drank and still drink cranberry juice which has sugar and have no problems with it.

[Machaon]

Matrix, during my 5 month battle with C-Diff, I was on vancomycin several times. Each time, within a few days, I felt much better and my movements improved each day, more or less. But, each time, a couple of days after stopping the vancomycin, the symptoms came back with a vengeance, and I would take another course of vancomycin with a tapering, which also failed. Finally 10 days of Dificid cured the C-diff.

Fortunately, after my ordeal with C-diff, I've been able to eat anything. I eat two large romaine, carrot, broccoli, cheese, tomato salads each day.

Regards, best of luck with your recovery!

Bob

[Matrix]

Thank you for the reply's and information so far.

Here's an update.

I just finished my final pill of vanco earlier.

My bowel movements range from sometimes normal to mild, but not watery, diarrhea.

Dairy seem to really piss off my stomach. Red meat, even the smell of it cooking nauseates me now.



I'm waiting to hear from my gp to hear whats next. Hopefully i'll get a recommendation for a gi specialist if needed.

We'll see how i feel in the next few days.

They haven't recommended a ct scan yet. Is that normal?
I'm reading on here that a fair amount of people have had a ct scan done.

Oh and beth you were spot on, I had to stop on the activia. At first i was able to tolerate it but by the end of the antibiotics it was causing bloating and bathroom issues. I'm wondering if the probiotic pill i'm taking is doing any of that as well....

Other than that i'm assuming its a waiting game.

[NanciT]

Generally it's a waiting period. BM's can be all over the place after treatment. As far as eating, this is VERY individual. Some quickly get back to their "normal" diet, others like me have changes that occurred during my 1 year of treatment( 5 relapses). That was 2014-2015. It took me a long time with post IBS and I never was able to eat red meat again. My diet expanded after 6 months and the only thing I don't eat is red meat and I no longer can tolerate alcohol. My CDIFF also included vomiting so I had many trips to the ER and recovery was long.

Diet is different for everyone. I did not have any scans or test after treatment. It took me a long time to recover.

Jump ahead to 2020 and I landed in the hospital with a UTI and was septic and put on IV antibiotics. CDIFF returned despite being on Vanco. I want to add my recovery went much quicker because I have an ID specialist who put me on a Dificid taper which is what cured me the first time. My recovery was much quicker and I went back to eating more variety.

Give yourself time to recover and add to your diet when you feel you can

NanciT

[beth22]

Matrix - yes, probiotics can cause D and gas, bloating, etc. I could not tolerate most and had to find one that I could use and I just had a part of the capsule. Could not take the whole thing. You might try to do without for a couple of days to see if it makes a difference in your symptoms.

[Matrix]

Okay so first off, happy to see the board back up.

With that said here's a further update.

I finished the vanco last monday and my movements have gone somewhat back to normal.

The only time i have any issues with D is in regards to dairy, yogurt, and probiotics in general.

Right now i'm in the process of slowly seeing what i can and can't eat. Dairy, Potato's (whole potatoes, mashed seems to not bother me), greasy/fried, and overly spicy are all off the menu at least for now.

So far due to this nasty bug i've dropped roughly 36 lbs in the last month and a half since i got sick.

Aside from that i'm dealing with mild depression from it and lack of drive to do things. I can go to work and function but when i go home i have no interest in doing anything. Also oddly enough a sleeping problem. 6 hours max and then i'll wake up every half hour to hour after that.

Other than the above i feel alright with no side pain anymore.

Oh, i do have one question and i can't get a straight answer.

This is in regards to cleaning/sanitizing. Bathroom, knobs, sinks etc are easy enough with a bleach solution. My issue is the bedroom.

Pillow cases, comforter, etc are pretty straight forward. I have a mattress topper that cannot be washed and what about the pillows themselves? I don't know how safe it would be to use a bleach solution on those?

Should i toss the topper and pillows out and just get all new pillows or is that going overboard?

I also want to thank everyone who has replied so far, you've been such a great help so far.

[Ril]

If you have finished the vanco and no longer have d, you no longer have c diff and no longer have to sanitize.
Just wash your hands well and launder linens, towels, clothing, etc. normally. Yes, the things you asked about are going overboard. Cdiff is not transmitted on a pillow!

Try eating grilled or roasted chicken or fish, boiled or scrambled eggs, pasta or rice, peanut butter, toast, avocado, and well cooked veggies. Avoid salad, raw veggies, fried foods, alcohol and sugars and dairy since it appears you are having problems with those kinds of foods. Add new foods slowly so you know which things you can and cannot tolerate. Try eating small frequent meals rather than large meals.

Good luck with your recovery.
Rita

[Matrix]

Thank you rita for the reply.

I'm still trying to understand my body at this point.

Every morning i wake up with a bit of nausea and it seems like regardless of what i eat i end up getting the bloated discomfort feeling afterwards. I also don't really have much of an appetite. Also burping more. Seem to be eating just because i need to get the calories in.

Is that the ibs that is causing that?

I'm eating 4 to 6 meals a day.

Yesterday was a bit scary, i had ordered broiled chicken for lunch and they apparently used spices i asked them not to use. I think the pepper was the main culprit. Anyway, I felt horrible most of the night and was stuck on the couch while also having a couple of rounds of d. I was almost at the point i wanted to go to the hospital from the stomach pain but i endured it.

I started taking ibgard last night and i'm trying a new probiotic pill today. Hoping it'll give me a little bit of relief from the bloating which seems to be the main cause of most of my discomfort these days.


I wouldn't wish this disease on anyone, its been 2 months of on and off hell.

[Matrix]

Hi all, back to give another update.

So its been a little over a month since I finished vanco.

I've been able to introduce a bit more food and was finally not losing any more weight. Total weight loss was 53 lbs since the start.

I'm currently taking 2 probiotics. Culturelle all in one and i started taking florastor a few weeks back but only 1 pill in the morning instead of the two a day.

Some days are okay and manageable while others its back to the bloating and discomfort in the left flank. I'm still assuming its the pi ibs doing that.

I had a bit of a scare over the last few days. Not sure what i ate but something really bothered me and i had the bloating/discomfort and pain on my left flank again. I dropped 3 lbs since then as i went back to a lighter diet with more liquids and liquid foods (smoothies etc).

This is the first major illness i've ever had to deal with so again I appreciate everyone's knowledge and sharing.

From what i understand the gi takes a long time to heal. Is there any idea's as to how long?

Also is there anything i should be looking out for during the healing process?

I'm just trying to make sure i'm doing everything i can do to recover to the best of my abilities.

[beth22]

It does take a long time for the GI tract to heal and you will have ups and downs. There were certain foods I could not tolerate after c difficile. You might keep a food diary to see if there is anything in particular that seems to trigger upsets for you.

[georgina]

No sure what you put in those smoothies , if you are blending fresh fruits and vegetables it may be the excess fiber or the fructose the is giving you those symptoms. Too much fiber cannot be digested properly in Cdiff recovery , the gut is still irritated , the flora is still unbalanced and some of the digestive enzimes that help break down the food may be missing or in not enough quantity . Give it more time.

[Matrix]

Hi all. Just another update.

I took your advice and decided to do a soft reset on the diet and keep a food diary.

So far the list of intolerable foods is spicy foods especially black pepper, all raw vegetables (mistakes when ordering jimmy johns tuna and not realizing there's raw celery in it), meat is a odd one as i can and can't tolerate it (if i eat it i have to wait a few days to eat it again and generally get discomfort for the next few days, but nothing unbearable), sugar (i should say too much sugar) , and dairy.

My bathroom routine is generally normal aside from right after taking the probiotics which depending on the day make me go loose or just down right D once or twice and then back to normal.

If i have a flare up its generally the left flank discomfort but again its generally manageable.

One thing I've been having lately is randomly I'm getting a burning type pain when i move or if i touch my slightly off center to the right of my stomach. Its been happening since i started the align probiotic along side the florastor.

Aside from that its dealing with the anxiety and depression which i've read most people on here have trouble with. I've never been much of a crying kind of guy but i'll tell you the mood swings that have hit since this whole thing happen are pretty crazy.

I'm 2 weeks from the 3 month after antibiotics treatment so i'm trying to stay positive. Which i had a general time frame on how long the gut takes to heal. Ya know, 3 months, 6 months, a year? I haven't gone to a gi yet and my gp's answer is always if you don't feel well make an appointment.

Is anyone else experiencing those stomach area type pains? I'm wondering if its normal or not.

[GtrGrl]

Doesn’t mean yours will go the same way, obviously, but: after my FMT, burning pain in the upper and lower right side were my only remaining symptoms. It was v mild so I could cope with it and was just so happy to be C Diff free. Now it’s got MUCH worse and no one can establish the cause, except one doc who thinks it’s SIBO but this was then disputed by a different consultant. Might be worth considering as a possibility? Probiotics would make it worse.

[beth22]

Probiotics make some people feel worse, like me for example. I could not tolerate Align and Florastor even less. I tried various probiotics and found VSL#3 to be okay, although I only take a small amount of the capsule. You might try cutting down on the probiotic or stop one and see if your symptoms abate. If not, then go back to taking that one and stop the other. Some people do just fine on them, others just the opposite.